Nona Scientific lands in-network contract with Sunshine Health, a subsidiary of Centene Corporation

OCALA, Fla., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunshine Health provides Medicaid and specialty services to Floridians from the panhandle all the way down to Miami. They are a subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a leading multi-line healthcare enterprise offering both core Medicaid and specialty services.  Medicaid, a government-sponsored program, allows underinsured and uninsured individuals to have access to healthcare. Over 3 million Floridians rely on Medicaid annually, and that number is rising. Additionally, over 3.3 Million workers were laid off March of this year, many will have to turn to Medicaid for coverage.

Nona Scientific is now a member of the Sunshine Health Network in the state of Florida. Unlike most toxicology labs using 30-50 year old technology, Nona Scientific is a full-service testing lab using proprietary and cutting-edge medical technology to provide revolutionary accuracy and reliability. Now clinics and practices within the Sunshine Health Network in Florida can benefit from Nona Scientific's newest technology- NonaClear 2.0.

NonaClear 2.0, a Revolutionary Specimen Validity Test

In an industry with little innovation surrounding specimen validity, Nona Scientific has revolutionized the toxicology market. Working with practices and clinics nationwide, Nona Scientific has launched their newest specimen validity test, NonaClear 2.0.  This technology accurately detects synthetic urine, as well as many forms of subversion including salting, oxidant's, and detox drinks. Every toxicology sample that comes through Nona Scientific runs through this proprietary specimen validity panel first, before moving on to the next steps in the testing process. The best part is, Nona Scientific runs this test for no added charge.  "Verifying that the sample has not been adulterated in any way shape or form has to be done on every sample.  Not just doing what we call 'Gen1' specimen validity testing i.e. temperature, PH, creatine, specific gravity etc… This is outdated technology that is being beaten on a daily basis by today's subversion techniques and products. Our advanced technology addresses all the new techniques to beat a drug test," says Mike Palmer, CEO of Nona Scientific.

Did you know that 10-30 percent of individuals cheat on their drug tests? For those individuals in a substance abuse program, that number rises to 80 percent. With rising numbers surrounding the opioid epidemic and easy access to synthetic urine, it is crucial that practices are relying on state-of-the-art toxicology labs, such as Nona Scientific, to provide accurate results. Patients now have an abundance of resources to manipulate urine samples, from over 400 million websites to thousands of "how to videos." Synthetic urine can be purchased in minutes online and is even carried in most smoke shops.

Over 4,000 People Die from Opioids in Florida Annually

According to Florida DCF, 2017 represented the 4th year of continued increase in opioid-caused deaths. Shockingly, the average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped in 2017: from 78.7 in 2016 to 78.6 in 2017, attributed to drug overdoses. This marks the first three-year decline in life expectancy since the 1910s. In 2017, 4,279 deaths were reported in Florida where at least one opioid was identified as a cause of death. Unfortunately, this number is rising. Florida's opioid overdose rate has tripled since the turn of the century according to Florida's Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council 2016 Annual Report, and "there has been a substantial increase in deaths associated with fentanyl and heroin-related drug use." Of the 6,526 overall opioid inpatient visits in Florida in 2016, 50% of the visits had Medicaid or Medicare as the principal payer.

Clinics and practices in the Sunshine Health Network now have access to NonaClear 2.0 from Nona Scientific. This allows practices to safely provide their patients with the best treatment to help lower the risk of opioid related overdoses and deaths for their patients. The accuracy of this type of testing is crucial in today's climate, and Sunshine Health patients are no exception. In fact, 40 percent of adults with an opioid addiction rely on Medicaid for their coverage. It goes to say that clinics throughout the U.S. play a very large role in lowering the risk of overdose by practicing safe and effective medicine, as well as accurately monitoring their patients.

Sources:
https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/program-information/medicaid-and-chip-enrollment-data/report-highlights/index.html
https://drugabuse.com/statistics-data/ 
http://www.floridahealth.gov/statistics-and-data/e-forcse/fl-seow-annual-report-2018.pdf 
http://www.floridahealth.gov/statistics-and-data/fl-dose/index.html

Mike Palmer
Nona Scientific
3320 SW 33rd Rd., Suite 100, Ocala, FL 34474
O. 352-260-4700, [email protected]

SOURCE Nona Scientific

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